Adam Aziz - Founder (Bio in name)
Birth-town: Dagenham, England
Hometown: North Vancouver, BC
Favorite Soccer Team: Tottenham Hotspurs
Favorite Activities: Soccer, Traveling, Making new Friends, Snowboarding, Skiing, Beach Life, Reading, Fishing, cooking, sending time with family and friends
Travel Experience: Every continent apart from Antarctica (hopefully one day)
Volunteer Experience: Asst. Head Coach, Canada Power Chair Soccer Team, Coastal Church
Philosophy: I have two; "To know God is to know you" and "Always leave a place better than how you found it".
Meet the Freekicks Team.
The Freekicks story started in 2012 with Founder Adam Aziz. Adam had a vision for making the world a better place through the game of soccer, and had the desire to utilize his coaching skills to create a positive impact in deprived communities. Shortly after, Adam met Justus through a mutual friend. Justus and Adam had their first “official” meeting at a Tim Horton’s, where Adam shared his plans for the International Program in Uganda. Since Justus is Ugandan-born, their friendship was a natural fit. Based on Adam’s story and vision, Justus was filled with a burning desire. He thought to himself: “Here is someone not even from Uganda and is willing to help my country, and I am from Uganda and haven’t done anything”. That thinking is what propelled Justus to get involved with Freekicks.
Justus Mirembe -
Director of Operations (Bio in name)
Birth-town: Jinja, Uganda
Hometown: Vancouver, BC
Favorite Soccer Team: Manchester United
Favorite Activities: Soccer, Travel, Volleyball, Missionary Work (especially involving helping kids), Table Tennis
Travel Experience: London, Amsterdam, Kigali, Nairobi, Mombasa, Addis Ababa
Philosophy: Failure is not an option
Marian Gabas -
Freekicks Impact Coach
Birth-town: Levice, Slovakia
Hometown: Vancouver, BC
Favorite Soccer Team: FC Barcelona
Favorite Activities: Travel, Sports, Soccer
Travel/Volunteer Experience: China, Europe, Hawaii
Philosophy: Every player or a student is unique and has to be treated in its own unique way
Best FK Moment: "Coming back to the same schools after some time away and meeting the same students, and getting to see their changes and impact of FK has in their lives".
Enrique Ostos -
Freekicks Chaplin & Impact Coach
Birth-town: Ibague - Colombia
Hometown: Vancouver, BC
Favorite Soccer Team: Colombia's National Team of course!
Favorite Activities: Playing electric guitar, reading books, spending time with friends and family
Travel Experience: I have traveled to Jamaica, Dominican Republic, St. Thomas, Bahamas, Maui, USA
Philosophy: Love, Do good, Pray
Best FK Moment: Going to Medellin Colombia to play soccer with the kids and bringing Soccer supplies!
Eneida Ferreria-
Freekicks Impact Coach
Birth-town: Sao Paulo, Brazil
Hometown: Vancouver, BC
Favorite Soccer Team: Corinthians & Brasil during WC
Favorite Activities: Creating memories with people I love
Travel Experience: Missions to South Africa & Colombia; Leisure: Peru, US, Canada
Philosophy: "Everything that is good can always get better. We just need to be all doing our part to contribute"
Best FK Moment: One of my favorite FK moments happened during our Colombia trip. I'll never forget how much fun the kids were having when you, Mr. Cute, Mr. Google and Rex were playing the cookies game. We all had a blast!!
Arlo Rose -
Freekicks Impact Coach
Birth-town: Wellington, New Zealand
Hometown: Auckland, New Zealand
Favorite Soccer Team: Ajax FC
Favorite Activities: Love cooking, fishing and coaching and playing football
Travel Experience: Lived in Vancouver, BC
Philosophy: "Be kind to everyone!"
Best FK Moment: Learning a lot coaching about the beautiful game from Adam and Micheal the barber
Nigel Marples -
Freekicks Impact Coach
Birth-town: Vancouver, BC
Hometown: Delta, BC
Favourite Soccer Team: Manchester United FC
Favourite Activities: Coaching, hiking, working out, outdoor sports, relaxing, spending time with family and friends.
Travel Experience: Denmark, Sweden, Finland, England, Holland, U.S.
Volunteer Experience: Helping Hands Rescue Mission, Philadelphia, PA
Philosophy: Each day is an opportunity to improve, grow, learn.